NEWS & PRESS

“In addition to Mayor Walsh and Councilors Driscoll and Greene, more than 220 local elected officials from across New York State have called on state officials to align New York’s investments with its commitment to clean energy. To protect the communities we serve and the local government employees who depend on the pension fund, we must act quickly. It is inconsistent for the pension system to maintain a financial interest in companies invested heavily in practices that worsen climate change while New York State is committed to policies necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change,” said Gregory Young, Fulton County Supervisor and Coordinator for Elected Officials to Protect New York.

In a little over a month, the so-called Green New Deal has won endorsements from more than three dozen sitting or incoming federal lawmakers as Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) makes a high-profile bid to shift debate over climate change toward policy on the scale of the crisis.

On Friday, the effort got a boost from 311 state and local officials.

Forty-four mayors, 63 county and state legislators and 116 city council members were among the officials from 40 states ― including some top oil and gas producers ― who signed an open letter issuing a sweeping, full-throated call for the phaseout of fossil fuels and adoption of Green New Deal-style climate policies.

At COP24 Climate Talks in Katowice, 300+ Elected Officials from 40 States Call for Phasing Out Fossil Fuels, Green New Deal Approach

KATOWICE, POLAND — Reiterating the concerns of constituents across the United States whose health and safety is threatened by fossil fuel production and worsening impacts from climate change, more than 300 mayors, state representatives, and elected officials from 40 states released a letter today calling for a nationwide plan to phase out the production and use of fossil fuels and to ramp up renewable energy as part of a green new deal approach to energy and efficiency.

“Climate change is the most serious threat to the future of humanity, and we have failed to respond with the urgency needed,” said John Marty, State Senator in Minnesota. “It’s time for a strong, consistent, and aggressive response in order to become a 100% fossil fuel-free society.”

As the Green New Deal pioneered by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continues to gain momentum, the plan to wean the U.S. off of fossil fuels has now found support in more than 300 local and state government officials who called for the initiative in an open letter on Friday.

The letter from environmental nonprofit Elected Officials to Protect America and signed by 311 officials from 40 states pointed to extremeweatherphenomena exacerbated by climate change that are already affecting communities across the nation and costing billions to manage in their aftermath—dire issues that are only going to worsen as our planet continues to warm.